Few things make me as happy as the turning of the seasons from winter to spring to SUMMER, farmers markets in full swing, and the over abundance of locally grown strawberries (well, as “local” as we can get in Washington, DC).

The first bite into a perfectly ripe, juicy strawberry at the beginning of summer is pure magic. Can I get an amen?! And I’m not alone when, after that first bite, I buy at LEAST 6 pints and proceed to eat strawberries for breakfast, lunch, dinner AND throw them into every recipe possible, right? I mean, it’s only natural.

Out of allllll the ways I’ve used strawberries so far this summer (and I’ve used them a LOT!) these scones are my #1 favorite so far. To be honest, sometimes it feels like a sin not eating the strawberries straight up, but once you have a bite of these babies, you might not ever want to eat a plain ol’ strawberry ever again — you’ll only want them in these scones.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but really, it’s not that far off.

And then when you consider that there’s CHOCOLATE to accompany the strawberries, you’ll find yourself making an excuse to eat scones for every meal, and maybe even snacks, too.

Not that you need an excuse though – I am 100% in favor of round the clock scone consumption.

But while we’re talking about the gloriousness that is strawberries+chocolate+pastry, I feel like I must warn you: these scones aren’t exactly the dry, crumbly scones that you may be used to. They are a little less dense (a little more cake-like) and less dry thanks to the strawberries ♥

I actually sent some the batch off to work with my husband to share with one of his co-workers (she serves as a taste tester for me from time to time and gives me great feedback!) and she wrote me saying that she thought I had stumbled upon something great – “this could be a new thing – it’s part scone, but moist enough like a cake that you can enjoy without coffee” she said, and appropriately named them “scone-cakes.”

And you know what? I actually think I’ve grown to like my scones better as scone-cakes! I mean, who wants to choke on a dry scone anyway?

**crickets**

Just as I suspected.

After my first attempt of these strawberry chocolate chip scones (the co-worker tested and approved ones) I tweaked and tested the recipe a few more times to make the scone a little drier and more traditional, but after much hemming and hawing, I decided that the world doesn’t need yet another standard scone recipe. It needs scone-cakes. Desperately.

So here you are friends! The best gluten-free strawberry chocolate chip scone-cakes ever made 😉

As with other gluten-free baking items, this scone dough is a little more wet than your traditional scone dough. Part of that is thanks to the moisture from the strawberries, part of it is thanks to the lack of gluten, and part of it is thanks to my love for scone-cakes.

This means the dough will be a little more messy when forming it into a circle and slicing it into the wedges. Not a big deal and still very manageable, but definitely something to note. This also means that it’s tough to separate the wedges once they’re cut, so they will bake together a little bit – but, again, no biggie. Just run a knife along the wedge segments a few minutes after the scones come out of the oven and you’re golden.

And the icing on the cake — err sparkle on the scones? — is the coarse sugar crystals coating the top. I can’t get enough of the perfect little crunch they give the scone and the nice pop of added sweetness.

♥ sugarrrrrr ♥

My grocery store was fresh out of white sugar crystals, so I just used a few packets of sugar in the raw and it worked like a charm! If you can’t find either of those, regular ol’ granulated sugar will most certainly work in a pinch, as well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda, whisking to combine thoroughly.

In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, ⅔ cup buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside.

Add the butter to the flour mixture, cutting it in with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is a coarse and crumbly meal. Stir in the ½ cup of chocolate chips.

Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, stirring gently, just until combined, and then VERY gently fold in the chopped strawberries.

Turn the dough out onto your baking sheet and knead just a few times with your hands, and then form into a circle - about ¾ inch thick and 8 inches in diameter. Cut the circle into 8 wedges using a knife.

Drizzle the remaining Tablespoon of buttermilk over the top of the scones, and smooth out on the surface with your hand. Sprinkle the coarse sugar over the top of the scones evenly, then sprinkle on the remaining mini chocolate chips.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Notes

* Make sure your butter is COLD. This will give you a better crumb and texture. I like to freeze my butter before adding it, and have found that grating the butter makes it easier to incorporate into the flour mixture.

Gorgeous scones Leah – wow! I still can’t get over your photography, its INCREDIBLE! I seriously just want to reach in and grab one of these delicious cake scones. Hooray for strawberry season – although sadly over here its not strawberry season 🙁 I will save this recipe for summer! x

Yum!! I am all for scone cakes! Since I had to go GF I’ve missed my Mum scones terribly, and so I feel that the more gluten free scones, or scone cakes, that there are in the world, the better off we all are! I love the strawberry and chocolate combination. I cannot wait to make these soon! I don’t know if I’ll be able to share though, I might have to keep them all just for me 🙂

I must admit, sharing wasn’t easy! Scones are definitely one of the things I’ve missed soooo much being gfree, too. Not sure why there aren’t more out there in the world at bakeries and such, but I guess that just means more recipe development (and taste testing — oh darn) for us! 😉

Such a great combination of flavours Leah.
Absolutely loving the fact that you went with scone-cakes, I’m all for a moist cakier scone, these little treasures of yours sound and look absolutely delicious!
Thanks for joining in with our Fabulous Foodie Friday fun.
Have a gorgeous weekend 🙂

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[…] friends who are gluten-free, so it’s probably something I need to do more of. Anyway, these Gluten-Free Strawberry and Chocolate Chip Scones from Grain Changer seem like a pretty delicious place to start my gluten-free baking […]

Hi! I’m Leah

I'm a gluten-free food enthusiast (yes, you read that right -- a gluten-free enthusiast)! I'm so happy you stopped by! Here at Grain Changer you'll find lots of recipes that are simple, approachable, TASTY, and just so happen to be gluten free. Learn More…